Philippine Travel Notes

This is a continuation of the previous article . Upon exit from the royal palace and the silver pagoda, this photo at right was the only one I took, and you'll know why in just a moment. I was out, now what? Aw! I did two things, the first of which, you should not do ! 1) Right outside the gate, I stood and looked around . That picture is the Supreme Court of Cambodia. It is diagonally across the intersection, from where I stood. Why did I stand on that corner to look around? Well, to watch and see for myself, the realities on ground , so I can properly tell you my dear readers, how things "transpire". That's the 'infamous corner' (where the 3 girls are headed), with a lot of "overpricing touts" and/or "fraudsters" who victimize many innocent and unsuspecting tourists. The modus: 1A] Once you are out of the palace gate, they'll offer you 'cheap tours' to some other tourist spots in and around Phnom Penh, where...

Wonderful Khmer Architecture! Everywhere is " instagrammable "! But let's start from the very beginning! Visit Times & Duration Foremost, you may encounter a 'minor issue' on the web, about opening and closing times for palace visits. Some say 7-11AM & 1-4PM ; some say 7AM , 8AM and so on. On this visit, it was written everywhere, 8:00AM~11:00AM AND 2:00PM~5:00PM . Heads up to my boldly written AND above. It can make or break your satisfaction! It means that: at 11AM the palace closes (for lunch?), so all guests will have to leave. Di ko alam kung me loudspeaker yan or megaphone na ipagtatabuyan kayo, o baka me mga guards na umiikot para sabihan kayo, o maybe the paths are cordoned-off. Basta ang sa akin, isang tanga at kalahati ka, kung papasok ka pa ng 10AM. Eh ang laki kaya ng compound na yan! Many tour groups aim for the earliest entry - at 8AM. I surmised, sangkaterbang busloads siguro ang tourists entering at 8AM. Hiyay! So, I ...

Let the walk continue! This was the last segment of my sight-seeing walk for the day, and just a short one, likely only 600 meters from the National Museum to the Royal Palace of Cambodia. Yes short. The shortest distance in fact, of a cumulative 5 kilometers I have already walked earlier. But as I've told you in that previous story, it was fun and educational! Fact: Cambodia's National Museum and Royal Palace are actually right next to each other. However, the vastness makes their visitor entrances about 600 meters apart! Veal Preah Meru Square From the museum, you skirt half the Veal Preah Meru Square perimeter. Ano yan? It is a very wide park-like, well-maintained grass field, with no permanent structures. Weh, bakit me building sa picture? Ah eh.., depending on the date/period of the year there can even be a lot. Not just 1, 2 or 3, but many! And sometimes those can even be bigger/taller, than what you see in the photo above. But, everything is temporary...